Illusions
by Ithilas
Summary: People see what they want to see which makes it that much easier to protect the one that matters the most to you. A meeting that happened by chance changes a prophecy and changes the child who should have been because a mother's love knows no limits.
1. Breaking of Illusions

Illusions

Summary: There wasn't anything that she wouldn't do for her child. The world will remember her as the mother who died to protect her child and her child will remember her as the woman who erased herself to give him a life. Oftentimes the greatest deceptions are those hidden in front of you. A Naruto Crossover.

_By now I imagine it's a miracle that there's even a letter remaining to be read after all of the tests you've no doubt subjected it to but I suppose that with your chosen profession it would only be wise to do so. There isn't much need for pleasantries as this isn't meant as a pleasant letter; not when it is in direct regards to my death and the question of where our child shall go._

A small black haired child lay bundled in blankets atop his bed. Weary blue eyes blinked slowly before two hands were brought together in a simple seal. "Kai!" shaking his head when the scene remained unchanged, Minato stepped forward carefully to pluck the small sheet of white paper tucked in amongst the blankets.

_I don't ask that you remember me as my purpose and main goal at the time was to ensure that I __was__ forgettable. We were both doing as ordered by our respective employers and had the unfortunate dilemma of being forced into a situation we would otherwise have avoided. The product of this single incident resulted in a child that I gave birth to eight and a half months later. Being that I was married (and quite happily so) I held no intentions of locating you to alert you to the simple fact that you were now a father._

Hands slid beneath the child to lift him up into the air with a feel of uncertainty all but singing through the room. Teeth worrying at a reddened bottom lip, blue eyes widened and for a moment the man felt as though the very air around him had been sucked from the room. Watching in rapt amazement as black eyelashes fluttered against rosy cheeks before lifting to reveal verdant green eyes, he was struck with a wave of recognition.

_I have come to learn that in times of war that there can be no certainties beyond those that you ensure. And the safety of our child is something that I will not leave to chance. He is being hunted and as it a certainty that I will die before allowing anything to happen to him I find myself facing a conundrum of sorts. I know that they will see to it that he lives with my sister's family out of some misguided belief that the bonds of blood will strengthen the protections I'm ensuring for him now._

Cradling the child against his blood-stained vest as he sat on the bed with a soul-weary sigh escaping his lips, Minato looked down at the green eyes growing heavy again with the need to sleep off the night's tragedy. A half-smile quirked the edges of his lips as he ran a gentle finger across the cheek still soft with baby fat. Shoulders slumping momentarily before firming in resolve, the man reached down with one hand to pluck a kunai from the pouch he had yet to remove. Blue eyes clouded with regret he drew the kunai across the opened palm of the infant in a swift motion waiting for the tell-tale chakra signature to appear in response.

_I won't allow for him to be molded into a weapon of their choice. They think I don't see the looks of greed and dreams of glory when they look at him. He will be safer with you as I hold no doubts that you will care for him. It feels like trust should be a strange thing to have when one is speaking of a mercenary and no, I still hold that shinobi are naught more than that. You do as you paid to do. However I know that if for no other reason that you will protect our child for the simple reason that __he is yours.__ He shares your blood and undoubtedly will inherit the abilities that both our people offer; with mine being magic and yours being the speed that is your bloodline._

Watching the blood spill over the chubby palm to land with soft 'splat's on the wooden floor, Minato felt his breath catch in his throat at the first stirrings of a chakra so similar to his own but with enough foreignness to speak of the woman who had been his mother. Absently replacing the kunai into his pouch he moved the child into an awkward position that freed his hands long enough to the make the necessary hand signs. His hands glowing a soft green as he moved them over the cut palm, he watched the cut heal while making soothing sounds to the crying child whose screams had softened to cries interrupted by hiccups.

_I offer no names by which he's been known while in my care as it's safer for him this way. Once they learn that searching for him by the use of my husband's blood is of no use then they will turn to other methods. I may not hold the same level of skill as you but I possess enough common sense to know when something is not a very good idea. Burn this letter once you've finished reading it and break the ties that our child held to my world. Let him know that I loved him but tell him nothing else._

_Lily Evans-Potter_

Settling the--no, _his_ child into the comfort of his bed, Minato stood and allowed the letter to flutter to the ground before setting it aflame with a low-powered _Katon_. "Well, what am I supposed to do with you now, chibi?" He asked the quiet night air as he turned to look down at the child curled up into a little ball with one small hand curled into a fist near his face.

A/N: This was the result of a rather tenacious plot bunny that refused to give up until I gave it the attention it felt it deserved. Updates will most likely be irregular as my focus is still on my other fic Experiences. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!


	2. Halloween Night Godric's Hollow

Illusions

Summary: There wasn't anything that she wouldn't do for her child. The world will remember her as the mother who died to protect her child and her child will remember her as the woman who erased herself to give him a life. Oftentimes the greatest deceptions are those hidden in front of you. A Naruto Crossover.

Gasping for breath through the terror clutching at her heart, Lily raced up the stairs with her child ensconced safely in her arms. Footsteps echoing through the house loudly as she tried to turn down the hallway leading to the nursery too soon, the panicked mother hissing through her teeth with pain as she clipped the edge of the banister with her hip. Forcing the pain to the furthest corners of her mind, fear-filled emerald glanced to the staircase behind her before flicking back to the dimly lit hallway before her.

Adjusting her grip on the child in her arms to keep his soft cries muffled against her shoulder Lily reached a hand into the pocket of her robe to grip the small tin of shrunken items she'd carried since learning of the price on her son. Dry lips pressing a kiss against soft skin that smelled of baby powder and of leaves being blown through a fall wind, Lily reached the end of the hallway and fumbled with the doorknob to the nursery before the door opened with enough force to impact the wall.

Sliding her foot beneath the door, the redhead made a swift backwards motion with her foot to close the door of the nursery. Wand in hand and spell already on her lips as she made the required motions, sharp eyes noted the almost intangible barrier covering the door. Secure with the knowledge that the barrier would give her the time she needed, Lily pulled her son from her arms long enough to set him down in the crib that was nestled into the corner of the nursery farthest away from the door. Red hair spilling over her shoulders and down her back as she knelt, the young mother opened the sturdy chest filled with blankets that she'd carried up to the nursery not three weeks after her child's birth.

Colorful mixes of blankets were thrown to the floor as she searched for the particular set of blankets that she'd hidden away in the chest. Sighing in relief as her hands brushed the edges of the distinctive material, Lily grabbed a handful and pulled. Uncaring that she'd effectively emptied the chests contents on the nursery room floor she nearly stumbled as she rose and turned back towards the crib in the same motion. Shaking out the blankets with shaking hands, Lily wrapped them securely around the child paying no mind to the confusion shining brightly in eyes so like her own.

Licking her lips nervously as the stairs creaked and a fine shudder passed through her body, Lily flicked her wand to light the candles stationed in the four corners of the nursery. Brilliant flames of sapphire, emerald, ruby and diamond lit the room as she pulled a well-worn letter from beneath the crib's padding before tucking it into the blankets covering her child. Hand sliding into her pocket to close tightly around the tin, Lily pulled her hand from her pocket and let her grip loosen as the barrier surrounding the door wavered. Contents scattering across the floor as the tin bounced then rolled, Lily straightened and flexed her fingers around the wand in her hand as the markings she'd etched so carefully into the candle's wax flared.

A/N: The third chapter is still a work in progress at the moment.


	3. Ends and Beginnings

Illusions

Summary: There wasn't anything that she wouldn't do for her child. The world will remember her as the mother who died to protect her child and her child will remember her as the woman who erased herself to give him a life. Oftentimes the greatest deceptions are those hidden in front of you. A Naruto Crossover.

"You had a child?" Noodle broth splashed onto the counter as Kushina Uzumaki stared dumbfounded at the blonde jounin in front of her. Slim fingers set the pair of chopsticks in her hand onto the rim of the noodle cup as red hair fell into her face. Hands moving to grip the edge of the table as she slowly rose from her chair, Kushina forced her voice to remain steady as she spoke. "When?"

"Before you even came to the village." Minato admitted wearily as he slumped back into the chair he was sitting in, his blue eyes darting towards the window as a bird flew past. "I was sent out onto a mission with some vital information missing from my briefing. She saw me and acted as though I was her spouse reuniting with her after a lengthy absence. We spoke for the duration of my mission and I believed that to be the end of any communication I might have with her. Believe me," the blonde dragged a hand down his face, "finding out I was a father wasn't something that I expecting."

"And her family won't come looking for the kid?" The redhead asked with a faint air of disbelief as she picked up the noodle cup and threw it into the trash before depositing the chopsticks into the basinful of soapy water in the sink. "Her family's gonna know she had a kid and—."

"They can look all they want," Minato hissed as he leaned forward in his chair, "but I won't let them have him. He is my son. The next generation of the Namikaze clan and I'll betray the village before I allow them to take him from me."

"Minato?" There was a faint whisper of cloth as she leaned back against the counter with a thoughtful expression on her face. "There's more to this than you're telling me."

Minato chuckled, the bitter sound echoing throughout the room as he stood. "They are at war, Kushina. His mother's clan was involved in a war and somehow our son became a prize. She renounced her claim on him. Her clan wanted to use him so she sent him to me so that in the event of her death that our child would still have protection." Hands fisting into blonde hair as the jounin came to a halt in front of the window, Minato stared outside for several long seconds. "She dissolved her clan ties because it was the only way that she could protect him once she died. Even knowing that we created a child together we were still little more than strangers to each other."

"You weren't strangers if she trusted you with the kid, Minato." Moving from the kitchen to cross the living room, Kushina wrapped her arms around the chest of the man in front of her and buried her face in his back breathing in the familiar odors. "She trusted you over her clan. I don't know many mothers that would do something like she did if they had a clan to fall back on." Fingers lacing together with Minato's as she rested the side of her face against the warm vest of the man in front of her, Kushina bit her lip in nervousness. "What are you going to tell Hokage-sama or even the council? Neither are going to be pleased that you had an heir with a woman from outside of the village and even less so if they learn of the circumstances surrounding your current position of guardianship over him."

"And what if they try taking him from me?" Minato whispered as he stared through the glass window overlooking the entirety of the village. "What if they decide that there are far too many risks that outweigh the benefits of allowing me to raise my son?"

"Hokage-sama would never stand for that and you know it." Kushina chided softly as she rubbed her cheek against the worn fabric of Minato's vest.

"Will you watch him for me?" Minato asked as he pulled away from her to move to the small blanket on the floor covering his sleeping child.

"Just go talk to Hokage-sama, Minato."

DoX

She was breaking one of her own rules and one of the very few that she set for herself while in her own set of rooms at Hogwarts. Trembling hands pulled open the glass doors of her liquor cabinet as she pulled out the nearly full bottle of firewhiskey. Holding tightly to the bottle as she pulled the top off and lifted it to her mouth, Minerva McGonagall grimaced at the feeling of warmth that suffused her mouth before travelling downwards. Taking another swallow her eyes burned as the trembling in her hands moved to encompass the entirety of her body as she remembered the pair of boys that had given her the bottle for Christmas as they ignored the smoldering glare from an incensed red head.

Moving one of her hands to cover her mouth as a sob escaped her ironclad control, Minerva sank to the floor as hot tears spilled down her face. Setting the bottle onto the rug covered floor, she wrapped an arm over her stomach in a feeble embrace as harsh sobs rocked her slender body. They were gone. Lily and James were gone and with them the sweet, sweet child that they had made together. Pressing her hand against her mouth so harshly that her lips were pressed tightly against her teeth, Minerva fought against the wild keening sounds of grief that threatened to escape her.

War was war and while she could reason away the deaths of her students as more names to be added to the list of casualties that had steadily grown throughout Voldemort's war for supremacy she could not—she _would not_ allow little Harry's name to be added so callously. He was a child. A child so filled with innocence that it tore at her soul to think of him as the price paid for the peace that had been brought about. Nose beginning to run as her tears increased in volume Minerva paid no mind to the destruction of her rooms as her magic whipped wildly out of control. There should have been another way! There should have been something more that could have been done to protect the green-eyed babe that had once clapped with pudgy hands as she animated his stuffed toys.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered brokenly through the heavy emotions that left her voice raw with pain. "I should have been there." Voice trailing off into a heart wrenching sob that only skimmed along the surface of the pain and grief welling inside of her, Minerva lifted her hands to grip at her hair tightly. "I'm so sorry, Harry. I'm so sorry."

A/N: I'm sorry this is short. The next chapters should be longer. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed/faved/alerted.


	4. Gift of a Name

The sun was sinking below the horizon before she heard the telltale scrape of Minato's sandals against the third step from the top of the stairs leading to her apartment. Turning the water in the kitchen sink off Kushina smiled at the little one investigating the lower kitchen cabinets. Nudging aside one of the discarded boxes that had been thrown onto the floor by little hands that had quickly become bored with the easily torn paper before moving on to the exploration of the cabinets themselves. Brushing a strand of red hair back behind her ear she stood in the kitchen's archway as the front door to her apartment began to swing open. "So what'd Hokage-sama say, Minato?"

Keen green eyes watched as the weary blonde shuffled to sit on the couch. "He wants me to bring him before the council tomorrow." Minato said as he rubbed at his eyes before turning to glance down at the space by Kushina's feet now occupied by a grinning child whose hair had lightened to a deep auburn that shone with the red color inherited from the child's mother. Pushing himself up from the couch to walk over to the child, Minato swung him up into his arms before burying his nose into the sweet smelling hair. "His advisors and Danzo will be there as well."

"Minato," Kushina said as she turned to begin cleaning up the mess that was her kitchen, "what aren't you telling me?"

"Jiraiya-sensei doesn't think that a stick user being the mother of my child should be made common knowledge." Pulling back far enough to make faces at the now giggling child Minato sighed as he began to pace. "I never meant for this to happen Kushina."

"That's kind of obvious _baka_." The redhead said with a snort and shake of her head as she gathered the remains of the boxes into a bag to be thrown out. "If you'd have meant for it to happen then you would have planned better for his arrival, which reminds me that eventually you _will_ have to give him a name. But I suppose we can do that after you tell me what _brilliant_ idea your sensei has come up with now."

"Do you remember about a year and a half ago when you finally came back to Konoha after that big argument we had and you were restricted from taking missions because the medic-nin wouldn't release you?"

"Hard to forget that when they threatened to seal my chakra." Kushina replied dryly as she finished gathering the last of the cardboard scraps that needed to be thrown away and knotted the plastic bag closed. "So what does that have to do with anything?"

"Because the timeline matches up with his birth date and I know you didn't want to move fast and I respect that! I honestly do! But this—He's my… He's mine, Kushina." Running his fingers through the baby fine strands of auburn hair as the child let out a yawn, small arms coming to wrap around his neck he stopped pacing as he held the little body close to him. "Our bloodlines shouldn't have been compatible but they were and I don't want people coming after him because he's an impossibility that became reality. Jiraiya wants to seal away the pathways that the stick users have for their chakra so that there's no possibility of an accident revealing something that we don't want known."

"So when would he have been born?" Kushina asked as she pulled a cup of instant ramen from one of the cabinets above the stove and set it down onto the counter as she set water on to boil while ignoring the sudden slump of a certain blonde's shoulders. "If we're going to go before the council about this tomorrow then we'll need to make sure that everything's as tight and seamless as we can make it. A little hesitation could ruin everything so I hope you've got some idea on the basics of what we're going to tell them."

"Simplest is going to be the best so we'll tell them that he was conceived when I finally received a length of leave that left me with enough time to make the trip to Whirlpool to see you after my mission to the Outer Countries." Wincing as little hands tugged on his hair as he leaned down to try placing the child back onto his blanket Minato instead grabbed the blanket to wrap about his son who seemed to be decidedly against leaving his arms. "The information that his mother included makes me think that he was born early so we'll be able to keep his birth date around the month of August and we'll say that the destruction of Whirlpool as well as the trip to Konoha pushed your body further than it should have been which forced him to be born prematurely."

"August 3rd. We should make it August 3rd which puts it the day after I came into Konoha and you're lucky that there were no Hyuuga's in that meeting with the Hokage so we can use the pregnancy and the onset of labor as the reason for my collapse in the Hokage's office." Kushina said thoughtfully as she leaned back against the kitchen while waiting for the water to boil. "Considering the effort that was put into making sure that no bloodline from Whirlpool survived we could say that the little one was kept hidden because we wanted to keep him safe until I was strong enough to protect him and since I've just been given a full release from the medic-nin it would be plausible but you would have to get Tsunade-hime to fix my medical charts."

"If Jiraiya-sensei doesn't receive one of the frog summons from me in an hour then he's going to speak with Tsunade-hime about getting the charts fixed in time for the council meeting tomorrow." Adjusting his hold on the little boy in his arms as a face rubbed sleepily against his neck Minato walked into the kitchen and stopping in front of Kushina leaned down until his forehead rested against the slightly shorter woman. "I can't thank you enough for this, Kushina."

"Then let me name him." Kushina said quietly as she raised a hand to begin rubbing soothing circles on the little one's back. "Kisho for my father and he will carry your clan name. It's not what they would expect so they should accept it as it is because of that. They will be hesitant to ask questions in regards to our choice of name for the little one because Kisho has always been a name of Whirlpool."

-:-..-:-

"Namikaze Kisho?"

"While I now belong to Konoha since Whirlpool is gone I will not allow for the legacy of my family to die so easily." Tilting her chin defiantly, she fought against the urge to better hide the child pressing his face against her neck in a sudden fit of shyness from being taken into a place with so many unfamiliar faces. "Names should hold meaning and Kisho's name shows that Whirlpool has survived in its own way. He is my son and it's fitting that he should carry my father's name."

"No one is questioning his choice of name, Kushina-san." Sarutobi said soothingly to the young kunoichi who seemed ready to leave the room in the fastest route possible. "You must admit that hiding a child so effectively for over a year is a surprise to many here."

"He had to be kept hidden especially as there have 6 attempts on her life this year alone. With the fact that her health hadn't yet recovered we felt that it was an invitation for more trouble if we announced the birth of our first born without ensuring his protection." Minato interjected somberly. "The duty of shinobi is to their village first and with my missions outside of the village there was too much risk involved with allowing our son to become common knowledge. We knew the potential consequences of our actions and as such I am prepared to take full responsibility for them as well as any punishment that is deemed necessary."

-:-..-:-

A/N: I am so sorry for taking so long in getting this out.


	5. Introductions and Seals

Illusions

It hurt. Far more than he'd thought it would. Realizing that his friends were actually dead was of an entirely different level of mental anguish than the mere thought of It had been back when such thoughts could be ignored. The emotional agony was sharp as it tore through his heart leaving only shreds behind as he laughed with tendrils of insanity clinging to the harsh sounds as he was led through the atrium of the Ministry of Magic with his arms bound behind his back and an escort of aurors surrounding him. Laughter trickling to a slow halt as he was shoved roughly into one of the high level security detention cells he crouched with his back against the cool stone wall and leaned his head back as he furiously blinked back the tears threatening to cloud his vision. A few moments were all he had to allow himself to grieve for the loss of the man he'd loved like a brother and for the woman who'd been like the older sister that he'd never had and truth be told, one that he'd never wanted. Breath catching in his throat while biting fiercely on the inside of his mouth he looked up with over-bright grey-blue eyes as the door to his cell was opened.

"Sirius I know that you would not have betrayed James but without young Harry it will be difficult to convince anyone of this." The older wizard said after ensuring that the proper eavesdropping wards had been cast his somber dark blue robes contrasting with the shimmering silver strands of his beard. "I understand that you may have felt that you were acting in Harry's best interests by hiding him but Sirius, surely you cannot believe that he will be better served by living a life hidden away from the world that he was born into."

Looking at the silver-haired wizard with a keen eye that he'd not possessed until after Harry's birth he marveled at the fact that the man before him could keep his intentions so well hidden that even the darkest of families would have trouble discerning his true motivations. "Harry's dead." Sirius winced at the harsh croak of his voice as he finally broke his silence. "Harry's dead. Lily's dead. James is dead and now all you've got left is a prophecy that was wrong." White teeth flashing from beneath the curtain of his hair as he bowed his head to stare at the ground Sirius smirked at the old man's momentary loss of composure as Dumbledore blinked at him in a stunned manner before quickly regaining his senses. "Leave the dead to rest in peace. Your prophecy is what killed them so let them find their peace in death."

"My dear boy, believe me when I say that I regret that James and Lily died last night but it is thanks to their sacrifice that Harry was able to defeat Voldemort. However, it is my belief that he is not fully gone. Voldemort will have made preparations against death." Dumbledore said as he conjured a chair to seat himself in. "And that is why it is so important that we know where Harry is so that we can protect him because he will become the first and most important of targets once Voldemort regains a mortal form."

Sirius snorted in disbelief, a cold anger burning in his chest at the wizard sitting so calmly in his cell as though he had not a care in the world. It was because of him that he'd been forced to lie to James while Lily grew sicker with guilt as the days passed and they were forced to use his own innate skills in the art of ritual magic to put James' face on Harry so that no one would know the awful truth. It was this man's fault that Lily had been forced to come to him the day after Harry's birth to beg for help in hiding his godson's heritage because she knew in the way only a mother could that Harry's life would not be one worth living were his true parentage to be made known. If the man called the Light's leader hadn't urged Snape to take the partial prophecy to Voldemort then his little godson would be here with him right now instead of in the arms of what amounted to little more than a stranger with the compulsion charms woven into his blankets urging him to trust those around him whilst at the same time bringing those caring for him to fall in love with the toddler sooner than they would have otherwise. "Harry's dead." He said again, his soul crying for the child he would likely never see again with mortal eyes. He would pay dearly for this but in a way, perhaps it would serve as atonement for the sin of allowing the man he'd once called brother to take another's son as his own. "Harry's dead."

They were all dead but it was a price he would pay to keep his godson hidden he decided as he let go of the sanity that he'd been clinging to and let the carefully constructed insanity wash over him. After all, a broken mind can give no secrets away.

-:-..-:-..-:-

Gasping she threw the covers away and was already up and in the hallway before they'd fallen back to cover the futon. Something was wrong. Grim faced as she threw herself into the tatami room with a kunai in hand her eyes searched the room desperately for the toddler she knew should be there. Her ears strained to hear the sounds of his soft snuffling breaths before her eyes tightened with pain as her fuuin wards began to scream and there!—turning around to run down the hallway to the living room she came to an abrupt halt at the sight of Shimura Danzo standing there with her sleeping child cradled in his arms. Taking in the ANBU flanking the man as he turned to face her she felt herself freeze for a moment in pure terror as the thoughts of what could happen to him in the seconds it would take her to reach him flooded her mind.

"He is truly a beautiful child, Kushina-kun." Danzo spoke his eye focused on the toddler sleeping in his arms. "One need only look at his face to know who fathered him but for those who know how to look for such things his chakra leaves questions. Questions that are best not answered by those outside of our village. Uzushiogakure was a village renowned for its fuuinjutsu knowledge and masteries."

Tucking her kunai away into the holster she wore on her wrist she stretched her arms out, "Please give him to me, Danzo-sama. He'll be waking soon and I think he would be scared to wake in someone else's arms."

"Yes I imagine that he would be." Danzo replied as he turned to place the child into her open arms. "I do not imagine that either Minato-kun or yourself are yet comfortable with him being out of your sight." Stiffening as Danzo leaned forward to lay a hand on the child's forehead she watched with wary grey eyes as the man smiled softly at the toddler. "You and Minato-kun-kun have done very well in hiding the child away. I wonder how long it will take the fuuin on the child to fade because I cannot imagine that such a child would have green eyes when no one in either of your clans has ever had eyes of any shade matching his."

Feeling the blood drain from her face she watched as Danzo moved back to stand with the ANBU before using shunshin to leave her apartment. Knees weak she sank down to the floor with Kisho held tightly to her bosom and remained there until the room began to lighten with the sun's rays peeking through her curtains. Pushing her hair away from her face she stared down at the still sleeping toddlers face with a look of indecision before it changed to one of determination as she stood and moved back to the tatami room to place him back onto his futon to sleep. Once the toddler was settled she closed the sliding door behind her and moved back into the bedroom where she bit her thumb and smeared the blood across a seal hidden behind a wall scroll above her futon.

Grabbing hold of the scrolls that the blood activated seal produced she moved back into the tatami room where she pulled an empty scroll, ink bottle and brush from one of the higher shelves in the room before sitting down with her back against the wall. Danzo was right in that the eye color would make others wonder about her baby and whether he was truly hers or if he was the result of an indiscretion on Minato's part. She would need to make it look as though she'd had a fuuin on him hiding his true features so there would have to be a delay in the full activation of the Ichizoku Fuuin or it would only serve to draw attention to the very things she was trying to hide. Squinting down at the scroll as she began the painstaking process of making the necessary adjustments to the seal she chastised herself for being so foolish as to think no one would wonder about her child's eye color when neither the Namikaze nor Uzumaki clans had ever had green eyes.

Working through the day with breaks taken only to change the baby or to feed him she only realized how late it had become when she looked up to realize that the room was slowly darkening as the sun dipped below the horizon. Glancing down at the nearly complete seal she stretched before standing and picking the dozing toddler up from the futon to take him into the bathroom for a bath before bed. Scrubbing the fussy toddler down before quickly scrubbing herself she sat down in the bath tub and let Kisho begin to splash around as she thought about the seal she'd spent the better part of the day adjusting. Once added to the heel of the toddlers foot it would effectively claim him as an Uzumaki and while it would be an undoubtedly long process his features would change so they would look as though she were his mother in truth and then he would truly be as safe as she and Minato could manage. She would need to ask Minato before applying the seal of course, but since Kisho's mother had severed her clan ties to protect him she doubted that he would deny her permission to apply the seal so that she could offer Kisho her clan to replace the clan he'd lost. With Minato's permission she would apply the blood based seal and allow it to slowly begin the process of adding her genetic imprint to the boy which would provide the proof they would need to show in case they were ever challenged to do so.

It was the best solution available she decided as she noticed that Kisho had become tired out enough to try drying him off and putting him to bed. Drying the squirming toddler off she clothed him in a pair of pajamas that Jiraiya-sama had bought for the boy because they had orange frogs decorating the dark blue cotton. Dressing quickly she scooped him up into her arms and made a quick stop in the kitchen to get him some drink of water before going to the bedroom and placing him under the covers with her. Her shinobi reflexes should have had her terrified to sleep with him as she remembered her parents doing with her but the security in knowing that he was next to her outweighed the cost of worrying about him startling her in the middle of the night. Wrapping one arm around the toddler whose eyes were beginning to drift closed from the need to sleep she closed her own eyes and allowed his breathing to pull her into sleep herself.

-:-..-:-..-:-

"There's still time for you to change your mind, you know."

"When are you going to introduce Kisho-chan to your team?"

"You know you're not very good at subtle subject changes."

"_Baka_! I'm not going to change my mind so I don't need to be subtle since subtle doesn't seem to get me anywhere when I'm stuck dealing with you."

"If you go through with this then you really will be stuck with me."

"As long as you keep complimenting my hair then I don't suppose I'll mind too much—ttebane."

Minato laughed softly as a soft flush crept over Kushina's cheeks and the red head kept her head bowed over the small heel she was carefully inking with the inactive seal. "Hopefully Kisho won't have that same tic otherwise all of your hard work will have been for nothing." He teased her before wincing as she hit the back of his head with a blow he was sure was supposed to be playful but Kushina had a bad habit of forgetting her strength. "That hurt, you know."

"It was supposed to." Kushina answered flatly while glancing at him from the corner of her eye. "Don't think I haven't noticed that you still haven't said when you're going to introduce him to your team."

"They're going to be hurt."

"They'll be hurt less if they can hear the news from you versus the alternative which is hearing it from someone else. That might be something they won't ever forgive you for because your genin team is supposed to be the strongest bonds that you build as a shinobi. You should take Kisho-chan with you tomorrow to meet them. He'll be a little fussy because of the pain from the seal being activated and it wouldn't hurt if you were there with him so he'll get to spend time with you and meet your team at the same time."

"I'll take him with me but you'll need to tell me what I'll need to take for tomorrow so I can get it all in a scroll tonight."

-:-..-:-..-:-

"What is that?"

"Are you blind or just stupid? It's a baby."

Minato sighed as his two boys started squabbling while Rin crept closer to the toddler sitting on the ground and watching her with wide green eyes. Seeing the way that Kisho's face was beginning to crumple as the argument grew louder he swept the toddler up into his arms and began to bounce him lightly while clearing his throat. "This is my son." He said softly after the sounds of the argument had died away and bringing his team's attention to focus onto the toddler in his arms. "He was born just after the war started and Uzushiogakure fell. Kushina-chan and I decided that it would be safer to hide him until he was a little older but now he's old enough that we can take him to the shinobi day care and soon he'll be old enough to begin training. I wanted you three to be the first to actually meet him because I don't think he'll be kept secret for much longer now that I've had to bring him before Hokage-sama."

"How old is he?"

"He's just over a year old. He was born August 3rd of last year."

"So a year ago you had a kid and you couldn't trust us?" Obito asked as he leaned back against one of the training logs. "We woulda kept quiet if you'd told us, sensei."

"Why do you never listen? He just said that he'd brought him before Hokage-sama which means that he hadn't even told Hokage-sama about the kid."

"It had nothing to do with trusting you and everything to do with protecting you. If word had gotten out that the Uzumaki clan had a new child in Konoha how long do you think it would have taken for the assassins to come looking for this child? How long would it have taken for them to go looking for my team knowing the relationship that I have with Kushina-chan the logical thing would be to assume that I'd already told you about the child and even more introduced you to the child so that you would be able to give them a description of what they needed to look for." Shaking his head as Obito opened his mouth to no doubt say something about torture not working on them Minato adjusted the toddler in his arms before continuing. "Everyone has a point in which they must break. It doesn't matter how strong you are because given enough time anyone will break. Taking him into hiding was the best option that we had so we waited for Kushina-chan to heal and for the other nations to become focused on the country again."

"So if you wanted to wait until he was older why not wait until he was old enough to train?"

"Because he won't have much longer before he's old enough to train and Kushina-chan wanted time with him before he started training." Minato smiled sheepishly at the three in front of him before stepping forward and placing Kisho into an unwilling Kakashi's arms. "Now he's not so young that you need to support his head—."

"Sensei!"

"—But you still need to hold onto him tightly because he likes to squirm. He's learned to walk and if you let him down he'll be gone faster than you can follow."

"I don't know anything about kids!"

"That's why you are part of a team. You need to learn to rely on them and there's no better time than now. I'll be sitting over here so for today consider your mission learning to take care of your sensei's child without physically or mentally scarring the child."

So sorry about the wait! I hope to have the next couple of chapters up either tonight or tomorrow. They've already been written and just need a little cleaning up and fleshing out before they can be posted. Thanks for waiting!


	6. Doubts

Illusions

"Tou!"

What if he tried moving this element and intertwining it with the stability nodes to avoid the possibility of the fuuin blowing up in his face the first time he tried to use it? Hmm-ing as he looked over the still incomplete fuuin he cleaned off his brush and set it off to the side before turning to look down at the puffed cheeks of his son glaring up at him. "You look like a little squirrel when you do that." Leaning forward in his chair he lifted the toddler up and onto his hip as he stood. "Are you hungry?"

"Ungry! 'Ungry! 'Ungry!" The child bounced up and down in his arms while shrieking the words into his ear causing him to both tighten his grip and lean away with a grimace. "Tou? Tou 'ungry?"

"Yes chibi I'm hungry too so let's see what your kaa-chan's left us to eat." Opening the refrigerator and ignoring the little hands eagerly pressing down on the switch that controlled the light he looked for the familiar containers of food that Kushina had left them before leaving on a mission earlier that morning. "Want some salt ramen or would you like the nice stir fry your kaa-chan left us for dinner?" Chuckling at the toddler's look of concentration he pulled the stir fry container from the refrigerator and pulled the top off before putting it into the microwave.

"Ungry…" Kisho whined as he watched the container spin around in slow circles inside of the microwave before looking up and tugging on his father's sleeve. "Eat?"

"Yes we'll eat but first we need the food to be warm because tou-chan doesn't like cold food if he can help it."

"Cold?"

"Yes cold," Minato replied rubbing his son's soft cheek before he was yanked down so wet lips could smack against his cheek in an overly messy and loud kiss. "You don't like cold food either do you, Kisho?"

"Cold icky. No like cold food."

"Yes cold food is icky." Blue eyes looked towards the door as a loud knock echoed through the apartment. Setting the toddler on the floor with a pair of training chopsticks to entertain him, he moved into the living room to answer the door. "Wait here for tou-chan, okay?"

"Kay."

Opening the door he was greeted with his sensei's grinning face as the broad man shouldered his way past him and into the apartment where he greeted Kisho with a loud laugh and open arms as the toddler squealed and ran to hug the man. "You'd have a kunai in you if you were anyone else sensei."

"Good thing I'm not just anyone, eh gaki?" Jiraiya replied as he lifted the toddler over his arm and began to tickle him. "What's Kushina-chan feeding you cause I swear you weren't this big a couple of weeks ago chibi."

"Cold icky!"

"Ahh so your tou-chan is making sure you'll hate field rations just as much as he does. You'll be as big a headache as your tou-chan was if you pout like he does over having to eat cold food."

"Don't tell him that sensei. Kushina says that cold food isn't good for him and that if he can eat it warm then he should." Slightly mortified at the whiny quality his voice had taken the blonde blushed as he rubbed the back of his head with one hand. "Also you haven't seen Kisho for two months so of course he's grown. He was still really chubby when you left for the front and while you were gone he hit a growth spurt. Don't forget that he's already two."

"Yeah I missed your birthday didn't I?" Jiraiya put the still giggling toddler onto the floor before reaching for a small scroll tucked away in his pocket. Biting his thumb and smearing blood across the seal holding it closed he set it down to the side as a small puff of smoke revealed a bag that had been sealed into the scroll. "Kinda hard to find a birthday gift while you're busy making sure Iwa doesn't break the front lines but I managed to find this in a little town that was being evacuated to the capitol."

"Kushina will kill you if it's something sharp." Minato said flatly his eyes tracking his sensei's movements. "And if she doesn't then I will."

"Oh quit your whining gaki. Tsunade was with me when I found it." Jiraiya grumbled as he pulled a plush frog and slug from the bag and handed it to the expectant toddler. "Tsunade said that the gaki needed a slug if he was going to get a toad because she wasn't going to let him grow up thinking that toads are the be all end all of summons."

"Kichi!" Kisho squealed as he grabbed onto the toad plush and snuggled into it. "Jiji! Lookit Kichi!"

"Kichi?"

"I needed someone to keep Kisho occupied long enough for me to get my team to start working together instead of squabbling." Running his hand through his hair roughly Minato smiled at the toddler grinning up at him happily while pulling on the slug's antennae with the toad tucked comfortably under one arm. "I'm worried about them going on that mission next week. I don't think they're getting along well enough for them to be on a mission as serious as that one is alone."

"You can't baby them forever Minato."

"I'm not trying to baby them—."

"You're their sensei and part of being a sensei is knowing when it's time to step back and let experience teach what you couldn't. You've done everything you can to make them understand that part of being a leaf ninja is teamwork." Jiraiya stood and followed Minato as the blonde stood to get the stir fry out of the microwave. "Granted having Kakashi on your team is going to make teaching teamwork a difficult thing to begin with because the gaki's let the civilians get to him and he's started thinking that his father choosing to protect his teammates was a weakness." Sitting at the table while Minato began to plate the food Jiraiya fiddled with a kunai as he spoke. "If you beating it into their heads hasn't worked by now then nothing more you say or do will work. The only thing that's left to do is to let them go out onto the mission and learn that without you there they'll have to rely on each other to survive. Maybe Kakashi'll learn that his father did the right thing when he saved his teammates even if it meant that we went to war."

Wiping Kisho's hands and handing him a small bowl filled with the stir fry Minato rubbed the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. "I'm worried that my team won't come back whole. I don't want a black scroll in place of a student and if they go as they are then I won't be able to avoid that. I've managed to get the Hiraishin to work in tighter quarters so I'm thinking I'm going to give Kakashi one of my kunai so that I'll be able to get help to them if they need it."

"You still haven't told them how the Hiraishin works, have you?"

"No and I don't want them to know. If they knew then Kakashi would know why I'm giving him the kunai as a promotion present. He's a lot of things but ignorant isn't one of them." Elbows resting on the table Minato cupped his chin as he stared down at the table top with distant eyes. "I can't deny the mission because it's going to be Kakashi's first as a commander but that doesn't mean I can't do what I can to try to protect them. He's got the skill to be a jounin but the mental portion of it still isn't where it needs to be."

"Where it needs to be or where _you_ think it needs to be?" Jiraiya asked pointedly as he leaned back in his chair and slung one arm off its back ignoring his student's flinch. "The war won't wait for your students to be ready. _Iwa_ won't stop to ask if your students are ready before trying to gut them. If they fall apart on the first mission away from you then maybe they weren't meant to be a team after all and if that happens then you need to be prepared to accept it. You can't question what the kami do because for everything that is done there is a reason behind it that we don't yet understand."

"Tou? It be 'kay tou." Chopsticks clenched in one chubby fist Kisho leaned forward to pat his father's arm before leaning forward to wrap his arms around it. "Kaa back soon and kaa tell tou that it be 'kay."

Letting loose a shaky laugh Minato pulled the toddler from his chair and into his lap for a hug. "Yeah your kaa-chan would tell me that wouldn't she?"

"Even the chibi is trying to tell you that you're worrying over nothing."

"That may be so but that doesn't mean I can't still try to protect them. Becoming a shinobi doesn't mean that those entrusted with caring for them have to stop."

"Heh nothing I say is gonna stop you from giving the gaki that kunai eh?"

"No but I doubt that's going to stop you from giving me grief about it anyway."

"If I didn't then I wouldn't be doing my job as _your _sensei." Jiraiya said while laughing and reaching forward to snag a bowl of stir fry. "So who's gonna watch the gaki while you're off playing decoy?"

"Well now that you mention it…"

-:-..-:-..-:-

"Tadaima." Kushina called out tiredly as she opened the apartment door eager to be in the relative safety of her warded home. The sounds of sniffling and the tension filling her small living room caused her to instinctively take a step back as she registered that Minato was cradling a crying Kisho while a haggard looking Rin and Kakashi sat on the couch. "Minato? Minato what happened?"

"Kaa!" Kisho wailed holding out his arms for her to pick her up. "Tou say Obi gone! Tell Tou lies are bad!"

"Oh Kisho-chan," Kushina whispered sadly as her face fell at the looks of anguish that crossed the faces of the three sitting in her dark apartment. Leaning down she pressed her forehead against Minato's letting the blonde take comfort from the simple action before straightening and pulling Kisho into her arms before moving into the kitchen. "I know none of you will have eaten so I'm going to make something for dinner. I want you all to go get cleaned up. You shouldn't wear dirty clothes if you're going to eat."

"I'm not hungry."

"I'm telling you not asking, Kakashi-kun." Kushina replied glancing over her shoulder at the now sullen teen and took a moment to wonder at the hitai-ate slanted over his left eye. "Rin take him to his house and make sure he bathes and changes into some clean clothes before you get cleaned up yourself you understand?"

"Hai."

"Good now get going and make sure you're back in an hour cause I'll have dinner ready by then." Waiting for the door to close behind the teens Kushina hugged the small body in her arms closer and buried her nose in the soft red strands inhaling the sweet scent. "What happened, Minato?"

"They were ambushed before they could blow up the bridge. Rin was taken for interrogation. Obito and Kakashi went to rescue after argued about it." Minato replied flatly his eyes looking suspiciously wet as he followed her into the kitchen before turning away from her. "They managed to rescue Rin but they only disabled the last kidnapper and were absorbed in making sure that Rin was safe to take the proper precautions. I didn't manage to get there until after Obito had been caught in a landslide and his left eye was given to Kakashi."

Settling Kisho on her hip Kushina pulled some vegetables from the refrigerator and began chopping them. "Obito activated the Sharingan." Gasping as she cut herself with the knife she turned an incredulous stare on Minato. "Fugaku-san is petitioning Hokage-sama for permission to take Obito's eye back and says that he won't allow us to attend Obito's funeral. We don't—we don't even have a body to cremate."

"Oh Minato," Kushina's face fell as she reached out paying no mind to the blood dripping from her hand onto the floor to tug on Minato's shirt until the blonde turned to face her. "I'll talk with Mikoto-chan so don't worry about that."

"Kaa tell tou that it be 'kay!" Kisho demanded his small face still flushed and wet with tears. "Tell tou that Obi come back and it be kay."

"It's not that easy chibi." She whispered as Minato wrapped an arm around her waist and buried his face in the curve of her neck while silent sobs shook his body and tears wet her collar. Lips quivering as Kisho reached across her to pat Minato's head she reached up to wrap an arm around Minato's neck and forced her breathing to remain steady even as her own tears dropped into blonde hair. "It's just not that easy."

A/N : I said I would have a new one up today and as it's still 10/10 I made it. Thanks for the reviews and the wonderful support even though I took so long in continuing this.

10/11/12 : Made a few corrections to add words that somehow ended up deleted.


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